PlayOn adds PlayLater “DVR for online video”

Seattle’s PlayOn today is announcing a new video recording service for online video, which it’s calling “the world’s first DVR for online video.”

Called PlayLater, the service captures online video content — including TV shows and other premium material with content protection — so it can be watched later and offline. It’s entering a limited beta testing before a full launch in a few months.

The service captures video played in a browser on a PC. It works by itself or as a complement to PlayOn’s main service, which streams Web video from a PC to game consoles or smartphones.

PlayLater records the online shows and saves them as an encrypted file on users’ computers. A spokeswoman said this works with copyrighted material “because PlayLater looks just like another Internet Explorer window, and we encrypt the video to a very high-level, so the video recorded can only be watched on the PC it’s recorded on.”

PlayLater will cost $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year. Details will be available at www.playlater.tv.

Brier Dudley offers a critical look at technology and business issues affecting the Northwest. Send tips or comments to bdudley@seattletimes.com. His column runs Monday, and his commentary appears here all week.